Published: August 16, 2017, words by John Carter

Medlar cemented himself firmly as a producer in the house scene when he first appeared on WOLF Music in 2011. His track, the deep soulful groover ‘Terrell’, featured on a compilation alongside Greymatter, KRL and Chicago Dream and set him in place as one of the resident producers on WOLF. Shortly after, Medlar followed with a solo EP and an LP on the imprint. Moving to a more electronic sound palette has resulted in releases on Phonica, Riverette, Moxie‘s On Loop imprint and – a personal favourite – the collaborative EP with Dan Shake on Delusions of Grandeur, all whilst remaining a key member of the Wolf Music family.

The young producer’s consistency as an artist since has found him booked all over the world as a DJ, and pulled in remix requests from indies and majors alike, reworking artists from Kon, Glenn Astro and Andreya Triana to Disclosure, Tensnake and Groove Armada. In 2015, he pulled out a 100% original material mix for Solid Steel, of which some led to releases shortly after.

Medlar’s influences range from the likes of Disco, Italo and Electro to Kraut Rock, Dub and Breakbeat Hardcore; genres of which he’s made many edits of to include in his own sets, with some even signed for official releases on West End and TK Disco. These, and a few under the radar 12″ releases under different aliases, have won the attention of DJs like Jeremy Underground and Roman Flugel.

2017 sees Medlar in one of his busiest years yet, with imminent EPs on West Friends (the imprint ran by his friends and occasional employers Rye Wax), For Discos Only & Wolf Music, with remixes out on Bordello A Parigi, Black Acre & Bjork’s One Little Indian label. In terms of DJing, his schedule is more packed than ever. This September he’ll be gracing the decks of Deep South and ahead of this appearance, we’ve invited the rising talent in to talk about some of the gems he plays in his sets.

OB Ignitt

Oh Jabba

“Not an obscure track, but one that I’ve heard in a warm up sets, during the peak of a set or in the wee hours, in any sized venue and it always works… It defies everything I think I know about categorising tunes. I had to include it just for being timeless and one of the most versatile tracks I know”

Hysteric - Venice By Night

Hysteric - Venice By Night

“Another go-to track in recent times, I love this kind of restrained energy in tracks, similar to the Ce Ce Rogers dub. Loving everything Hysteric touches at the moment, generally sampled/edited library music or obscure Italo-esque tracks but they always bang! Watson’s edit on the same EP as this (Banoffee Pies) is dope too!”

Cece Rogers - Someday (Some Dub)

Cece Rogers - Someday (Some Dub)

“Everyone knows this track, generally from the original, but a lot of younger people from Liquid – Sweet Harmony. The dub mix is great and is a go-to track to play in early/late sets in larger spaces when things are plodding nicely along.”